Fred,
I recently asked if the M715 came with a grille--Apparently not. Mine has a
civilian grille installed and painted flat black.
The spare tire mount on the M715 is located on the rear of the truck under
the bed. I'm not aware of any that had a spare tire mounted on the
passenger's side of the truck bed. I may be wrong, though.
Here's an updated (more info--plus I now have a spell-checker for my e-mail)
reprint of my list of things to check when buying an M715. It is not
all-inclusive, but covers most of the items I have repaired or will need to
repair. Some things like the winch info will obviously not apply in your
case:
-----------------------------<snip>-----------------------------------------
-------
If I had to do it all over again, here's what I would look for when buying
an M715:
Starting from the rear:
-Check rear bumper for rust on the inside
-Check for original tailgate (HARD to find on M715s that were turned into
fire trucks)
-Check for rust in floor of bed (EASY to find on M715s that were turned into
fire trucks)
-Check for troop seats and rear canopy bows
-Check rear wheel cylinders for leakage or frozen condition
-Check rear brake shoe condition. Take the time to remove each wheel and
brake drum BEFORE you buy the truck. These brake shoes AND DRUMS go bad
quickly when there is mud and dirt wedged in there. (It'll cost you about
$35 per axle to replace the brake shoes--If Front Line Military Vehicles
still has the shoes in stock, that is. If not, other source's prices are
much higher).
-Check rear drive shaft/U-joints for security, dents, wear/play. I bent my
shaft-$230 for a new one, $166 to rebuild the old one (including new,
machined u-joints)
-Check for leakage from rear differential housing & shaft
-Check parking brake on transfer case for wear, and to make sure all the
parts are there.
-Check transfer case input and output shafts for leakage (Seals-$12.00 each)
-Check rubber bushings on transfer & transmission mounts for serviceability
-Check front drive shaft, short shaft and universal joints for looseness,
wear and dents
-Check transmission mount for serviceability (It's the 6-8 inch long flat
rubber and metal piece between the bottom of the transmission and the
crossmember that supports the transmission. If this is shot, the 4 WD/2WD
selector handle will rub and strike the edge of the access hole in the
transmission hump cover inside the cab. You will be in for a very noisy
ride).
-Check the condition of the clutch--Easily done by removing the bottom cover
on the bellhousing.
-While you've got that bellhousing cover off, check the starter gear ring on
the flywheel. Replacing this gear will require removal of the flywheel.
This is a major operation (at least on my truck)--You must remove the
bellhousing to get the flywheel off. You must also have the flywheel off to
remove the bellhousing. Get the Idea? I had to remove the entire
crankshaft with the
flywheel still attached. Fortunately, I was rebuilding the engine at the
time.
-Check the cab corners, pan, and sill (rocker) panels for rust.
-Check the roll-up windows for good rubber seals and tracks (especially
where the roll up window slides up and down inside a track in the fixed
window. If this seal/track is shot or non-existent, an annoying rattle will
result as the roll-up window rattles back and fourth in the fixed window
track.--I still have not found a source for the window track seals.
-Check all instrumentation for condition and accuracy.
-Check for seat belts. I had to install generic ones--$35 each.
-Check condition of cab canvas and snaps.
-Check condition of windshield seal (between bottom of windshield and hood
of truck)
-Check for rust around where the brake master cylinder attaches to firewall
(both inside and outside)
-Check windshield wiper motors (hopefully converted to electric instead of
vacuum)
-Check operation of the transmission (1st gear and reverse are not
synchronized)
-Check for proper operation of the transfer case-High, Neutral and Low/ 2
wheel drive and 4 wheel drive. (You may need to back up a short distance to
shift from 4 wheel drive back to 2 wheel drive).
-Check for proper operation of the PTO for the winch. Check to ensure that
wodruf (sp?) keys and set screws are in place on all the universal joints on
the PTO shaft (except the extreme forward joint, which should have a special
shear pin installed on the winch end). Do not allow hardware store bolts
and nuts to be used anywhere on this PTO shaft.--It cost me $150 to get
pulled out of a mudhole because the guy I bought the truck from didn't spend
the $5 to get proper wodruf keys and set screws installed.
-Check steering for looseness/play.
-Check engine compression--150 is where a new/rebuilt 230 engine should be.
YOU DO NOT WANT TO REBUILD THIS ENGINE--BRING A COMPRESSION TESTER WITH YOU
AND TEST EACH CYLINDER TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE GOOD! I can not stress this
enough. I did all the work (except the machine work) myself, and ended up
spending about $800-$900 to rebuild my engine. Rebuild parts are rare, and
extremely hard to find-You therefore pay through the nose for them.
-Check for oil leaks especially around the timing cover-to-block seal.
-Check for blue smoke/burning oil. Again, YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO
REBUILD THIS ENGINE.
-Check front engine mount rubber for rot/sagging/damage from petroleum
products.
-Check steering box for leakage.
-Check all steering ball joints for play/wear.
-Check front differential for leakage/shaft play.
-Check front swivel balls (where the front wheels pivot for steering) for
pitting and leakage.
-Check front brake shoes and wheel cylinders-same as rear.
-Check for a heater--it would likely have been installed from a civilian
truck.
-Check for radiator leakage.
-Check winch for oil leakage, cable condition and proper operation (the
lever on the winch engages the drum to the shaft that runs through the
middle of it. By moving the lever toward the passenger's side, the drum
will disengage, thereby "freewheeling" so you can pull the cable out).
-Check front bumper for rust.
-Check body for overall condition/rust. Pay close attention to the metal
channels under the cab where it mounts to the frame. Rust flakes off inside
these channels.
-Check all wiring for cracking/rubbing.
-Check tires for tread, dry rot, and condition of the rims. The best price
I've found for new 9.00x16 military non-directional tread tires is $121
each, from Wallace Wade in Texas. Shipping cost--don't know, because my
local tire dealer can get NDTs to me for $135 each.
-Check front wheel hubs for security by grabbing the top of the tire and
pushing and pulling it back and forth as hard as you can several times with
the truck on the ground (not on jacks). If any clunking sound is heard or
felt, the huge nuts inside the axle hub have backed off or are loose. This
is not good, as these nuts hold the wheel onto the spindle.
I paid $3500 for my truck and it suffered from many of the above mentioned
problems. I paid too much for my truck, considering what it cost to correct
the problems. The only way I justify this cost is that I also got 4 spare
wheels, an extra Dana 60 front end, an extra Dana 70 rear end, a spare
transmission (dogged-out), a good spare transfer case, and a few boxes of
spare parts. It's a great truck when properly repaired, though.
If the truck you're looking at passes all the tests above, I'd pay up to
$4000 for it (if it looked and drove good). This is only MY opinion,
however, and others will have different opinions. One important lesson
learned: If the owner claims to have rebuilt the engine, DEMAND to see the
receipts. The rebuild parts are so expensive that only a die-hard M715 fan
would rebuild it. A die-hard M715 fan would also save the receipts. Anyone
else is probably lying (like the guy I bought my truck from).
Several other M715 owners are active on this list and will most likely fill
in any gaps and offer excellent first-hand advise. Don't hesitate to e-mail
direct or post any follow-up info/questions you may have.
Hope this helps, and best of luck.
-Mark Masse
1967 Kaiser M715
===
To unsubscribe from the mil-veh mailing list, send the single word
UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of a message to <mil-veh-request@skylee.com>.